006 – Why can’t PR researchers communicate with practitioners?

Researchers are studying public relations and presenting their findings at academic conferences and in the top academic journals. PR practitioners are members of professional associations (PRSA, IABC, NAGC, and so forth), are attending professional conferences, and reading professional publications.

So why do we still have such a disconnect between scholars and practitioners?

In this episode, Professor Dustin Supa of Boston University‘s College of Communication explores the gulf between communication researchers and practitioners. He explains how scholars can translate and present their findings in ways that are accessible to practitioners. He also discusses the importance of using statistics in research (hint: providing journalists and bloggers with information they can use helps get media placements, which highlights the scholar’s work).